September 23, 2011

I'm on a health kick. I thought I'd get a head start before a) hubby arrives and b) new years when I usually make empty promises to myself. I've already lost 20 lbs since moving home to Canada, but I'm stuck. My body just won't lose any more weight. My mum keeps telling me (in that motherly nagging tone), "Afton Marie, you'll have to change what you're doing because it's not working anymore".

I've been really inspired by this book I took out at the library (don't get me started about how much I love the library again). It's called Ultrametabolism. It's not a diet plan, but instead a plan for healthy living. It talks about all the good things and bad things we do to our bodies. Here are some things that I'm looking to change:

1. Cut down on dairy. I always had this idea in my mind that they only way to get calcium was through dairy. Infact, we don't really need dairy past the age of 4 or so. There are loads of other ways to get calcium, like leafy greens for example.

2. Carbs are not the enemy, unless they're refined carbs, which is mostly what I was eating. I really love these Stonemill breads, which have a low glycemic index and 0g of sugar! We can eat carbs - in fact we MUST eat carbs - but we just have to choose the right ones.

3. Learning the difference between good fats and bad fats is really important as well. Knowing the good fats, like monounsaturated fats, is really great because most of them are so yummy. Examples are nuts and seeds, avocado, and olive oil. They can actually help you lose weight!

4. Understanding the bulls*%t that companies spew to make you buy their products. You know that old saying "no added sugar"? Well guess what, sure they don't add sugar, but they certainly add a whole lot of sweetener. I'm not going to get into it, because of the controversy, but there are a whole bunch of health problems associated to sweeteners. There are so many foods that they want us to believe are a healthy alternative, but really they're just more chemicals with fewer calories.

5. The best way to go...don't eat anything with a label on it. I know it's difficult, but I'm going to try and eat as much fresh food as I can, including hormone free lean meat. I learned a lot from living in Romania, where they grow everything without pesticides, organically, and straight to the table. Sure, sometimes it didn't look pretty, but it was healthy nonetheless.

So there we have it. I would really recommend picking up the book Ultrametabolism. There's also an accompanying cookbook. And maybe you could also go to the library, because you never know what you're find...it could change your life!